Riker's Woman
by Lyzabet
Summary: Commander William Riker meets a young woman and is unprepared for the impact she will have on his life.


Elizabeth Pressman was leaning against the bar in Twenty-Four, the Enterprise's gathering place. Her father, Captain Erik Pressman, had sent her to the Enterprise, hoping that the crew would be able to convince her to go to starfleet academy. She was eighteen years old, old enough to go to the academy, but she had no interest in being a starfleet officer, she just wanted to get married and raise a family, something her father couldn't understand. And the only reason she had agreed to come onto the Enterprise was to hopefully gain the interest of Commander William Riker. She had developed a major crush on him, when he had been on board the Pegasus, the starship her father was the captain of.

"Hello, I haven't seen you around before. You must be new. Welcome to the Enterprise." Lyzz turned to smile at the young man standing before her.

"I'm Wesley Crusher. My mother is Doctor Beverly Crusher, the head of sick bay."

"Hello, Wesley. I'm Elizabeth Pressman. You can call me Lyzz." They both looked toward the door as it opened and Commander Riker walked in. Lyzz did a double take and couldn't help but admire the man in his starfleet uniform. It's been six years since I saw him last and he is more attractive than ever, she thought. The Commander looked around for a moment and walked over and sat down at the table where Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Yar were sitting. Lyzz turned her attention back to Wesley, not wanting to be rude, and continued their conversation.

"Finally a chance to relax after a days work ," Counselor Deanna Troi was saying. Commander William Riker nodded as his gaze swept the room.

"Looking for the next beautiful victim to work your seduction charm on?" Lieutenant Natasha Yar teased. Will shot her a look. "Sorry sir, that was inappropriate." Tasha said. The Commander nodded his head at her and continued looking around the room. Deanna and Tasha shared a look and grinned. They both knew that was exactly what was happening.

As Will's eyes went along the bar, they stopped at a young woman with long golden brown hair leaning against the bar talking to Wesley Crusher. The top section of her hair was pulled back and held in place with a clip centered on the back of her head. The rest of the hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders ending just below the shoulder blades. His eyes traveled down her body which was encased in a long sleeve white dress that hugged her figure until it reached her hips where it then cascaded down into folds and stopped just below her ankles. Her small feet were in white satin-looking slippers. He ran his eyes over her upper body again enjoying the way the dress accentuated her soft curves. His gaze then settled on her face. As he did so she turned more in his direction and met his eyes and smiled, causing him to gasp unvoluntarily. He knew those eyes, nobody else he knew had those intense pure blue eyes or for that matter even came close to that shade of blue. Was this beautiful young woman seriously the daughter of Captain Pressman? The last time he had seen her she was just starting into her teen years. She had been pretty, but now the child he once knew was a gorgeous woman with curves that made his heart beat faster. What was her name again? Lindsey? Laura? No, it started with an "L" but what was it? Oh yeah, Lyzz, short for Elizabeth.

When Will gasped both ladies at the table turned to see where his attention was. They saw Wesley talking with a young woman and exchanged glances. Will tore his gaze from Lyzz's and glanced back at Deanna and Tasha. They were looking at him knowingly, trying not to smile, but he could see the laughter in their eyes.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." The ladies continued their conversation and Will glanced toward Lyzz again. But she wasn't there. Where did she go? Soon he felt a presence beside him and looked over.

"Hello Commander, congratulations on becoming a first officer." There she was, talking with him.

"Thank you," he said, "Have you met Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Yar?" He guestured toward the two women. "This is Captain Pressman's daughter, Elizabeth."

"Hello, nice to meet you." Lyzz said, smiling at the two women. She glanced back at him. "Excuse me, I will talk to you all later." She turned to leave and Will grabbed her hand.

"May I dance with you?"

"Of course sir, as long as you don't have two left feet," Lyzz teased, flashing her incredible smile at him.

Will stood up and took her hand leading her towards an empty area where they could dance. As he placed his hand on her waist, she couldn't help but moan inwardly as her mind went to what his large hands could do to her body. She placed her hand on his arm and he took her other hand in his and they started dancing.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"Good, thank you. And yourself?"

"I've been fine. You've grown up!" He commented.

"Well sir, they kept feeding me, and sure enough I grew." She laughed. As she gazed into his incredible eyes, she hoped he didn't realize just how attracted she was to him. "It's been what... five... six years ago or so since I last saw you?" She knew exactly how long it had been, but she didn't want to come across as obessesively in love with him.

"Six years. How is your father doing?"

"He's great. He's hoping to become an admiral in the next few years. And of course, you're well on your way to becoming a captain."

"Well it has been six years. I've been wondering what happened to the little girl that I last saw on the Pegasus. Now I see in her place, a beautiful young woman. Would you like to retire to my quarters?"

His quarters? Did he just call me beautiful? Ok Lyzz, concentrate. This is a man who has the reputation of being a ladies' man, or, in not as nice terminology, a womanizer. He is good at seducing women. You have to play hard to get. You do not want to end up in his bed, for a one night stand or even a fling. You want to keep his interest. Make him so interested in you, he wants a relationship which will hopefully lead to marriage.

"Your quarters, sir? Surely you do not see me as that type of a woman. I'm eighteen years old, a virgin, and the daughter of a man who used to be your superior officer. I did not agree to dance with you so you would invite me into your bed."

"I apologize Miss Pressman. You are just so beautiful, I was not thinking straight. If I may ask though, why did you agree to dance?"

"Well, sir, I was being polite and since I haven't seen you in a while, I wanted to see how you are and what you have been up to since we last saw each other."

"Well then, let's try this in a more appropriate way. May I date you, Miss Pressman?"

"No sir, you may not."

After a couple of awkward seconds, "Why are you still dancing with me, Miss Pressman?"

"Well sir, we both have reputations to uphold. If I was to just storm off, it would create rumors that are likely to not be very beneficial, no matter if they are partly true or not." As the song ended, Will let go of her, and offered his arm and walked her back to the table.

"Well ladies, I think I will retire to my quarters for the remainder of the night. Good night. I hope you sleep well." Lyzz said, before leaving the room. Will stared after her. Did she really just resist him? No other woman had ever done that. Even on Betazed, with Deanna Troi, it had been a mutual understanding that there was nothing there. They had kissed, and feeling that it was not right, that was as far as it had gone. But no woman had outright resisted him. And it made him want her more. As he thought back over their conversation, he realized he was probably moving to fast. He had jumped onto inviting her to his quarters pretty quickly. He also realized she had tried to uphold his reputation. She had upheld his honor, and his admiration for her grew. She was beautiful, had integrity, and was a little spirited. He was starting to fall for her. Deanna was watching him a knowing smile on her face. Tasha was looking at him in shock.

"Yes, I'm interested in her. And yes, I understand that she resisted me. And yes, I'm kind of surprised also." He said in answer to their unspoken comments.


End file.
